Tokorongpas make good income by dressing stones

Samdrupjongkhar: Project DANTAK road widening work on the Samdrupjongkhar-Trashigang highway is underway, and a team is undertaking the work at Tokorong village.

While the slow pace of the road widening work is causing some inconvenience to road users, some of the residents of Tokorong under Samdrupjongkhar Dzongkhag have found a way to make some cash income from the debris dumped below the road.

Sixty-year-old Tashi Wangdi from the village, along with four others, dresses stones for a contractor who is undertaking a school construction in Pemagatshel. Since the stones have come out of blasted rocks, they are of the right size to be dressed into a required size and shape for constructions where stone faces on the walls are prominently displayed with uniform grooves between stones for aesthetic purpose. This method of construction is visible in schools across the country.

Tashi Wangdi can dress about 100 stones in a day, and he is paid Nu 7 per piece of stone the size of a brick. So, he earns anywhere between Nu 500 and Nu 700 a day, which is a good income by village standards.

The eldest in the group, 70-year-old Namgay, said the last time he dressed stones was about a decade ago when a nearby school in Orong Gewog was constructed. The rate then was only Nu 3 a stone.

“I was surprised that the contractor was willing to pay us Nu 7 per stone. I was tempted to put my age behind and cash in on the good offer,” said Namgay, who is in perfect shape despite his age.

Tashi Wangdi said the main source of income for the resident of Tokorong used to be mandarin business. The profit from the mandarin season would see them through the year. Not any more after road went to Gomdar.

Another man said that, earlier, the residents made decent income from mandarin business because all the mandarin from the entire Gomdar Gewog had to be brought up to Tokorong on horses and porters from where it was transported in trucks. This has virtually stopped after road reached Gomdar. And there aren’t other sources of income for the people of Tokorong.

Tashi, 30, and his friend, who left their cattle in the nearby forest and joined the elders to make additional cash income, said they were pleased with their income.

Sonam, the contractor, said although Tokorong is almost 60 kilometres away from his construction site in Pemagatshel, he is happy with the quality of stone and workmanship of Tokorongpas in dressing the stones.

“Although it is expensive to get stones from such a far place, I am glad that the quality of stone is perfect for pointing works. The local stones in the dzongkhag are of inferior quality for dressing,” he said.

He added that local suppliers agreed to provide stones at a much cheaper price but he would stick to stones from Tokorong for his construction of an academic block at Shumar Lower Secondary School.”

Tashi Wangdi said the stones from Tokorong region are the preferred choice of people from not only Pemagatshel, but also Samdrupjongkhar. He said rich people from Samdrupjongkhar and Dewathang used dressed stones from the area for their private construction in the past.

By Gyembo Namgyal